Queen Latifah to headline Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Festival

The 42-year-old Grammy winner, who has a large following in the LGBT communities, will perform at the festival May 19. It's Latifah's first appearance ever at a gay pride festival, said Long Beach Pride co-president Pat Crosby.

"For Queen Latifah to make her worldwide pride debut here in Long Beach is a tremendous testament to the popularity of our celebration and to the strength of our community," Crosby said.

The festival and parade are the city's second largest event, drawing 70,000 to 75,000 people over two days.

Though many people know Latifah (born Dana Elaine Owens) as a hip-hop singer, her credentials are more diverse. At 19, she released her debut CD, the 1989 hip-hop release "All Hail the Queen."

After the release of her fourth hip-hop CD, 1998's "Order in the Court," Latifah shifted primarily to singing soul music and jazz standards.

In 2004, she released the soul/jazz standards "The Dana Owens Album." Latifah is working on a new CD set to be released this year.

Away from recording, she had a starring role for five years (1993-1998) on the FOX sitcom "Living Single" and also had her own talkshow, "The Queen Latifah Show," from 1999 to 2001.

On the silver screen, Latifah received, in 2002, a best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her role in "Chicago," but lost to co-star Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Nevertheless, Latifah is one of three hip-hop artists to receive an Academy Award nomination in an acting category.

The Pride Festival will take place May 19-20 along Shoreline Drive at Marina Green Park and the parking lot adjacent to Rainbow Lagoon Park.

The Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Parade will take place at 10:30 a.m. May 20.